ALBRIGHTSVILLE - The twang of guitars, the rhythmic stomp of cowboy boots and the rich voices of country music greats George Jones or Merle Haggard have faded from the cavernous hall of Ramblers Ranch.

Well-known local country-western musician Tommy Schafer's $5 million, 41,000-square-foot Penn Forest Township dance hall and restaurant, which opened in October 1998 and drew thousands of country music fans, has closed.

The click of the locks on the doors caught 30 or so employees by surprise.

"We were supposed to have a dance (last) Friday," said line dancing teacher Dottie Cirko. "Tommy called around noon and said, 'We're not having a dance tonight.' I asked if it was because of the snow, but he said, 'No, we are closing.' "

She said Schafer didn't tell her why.

He did not return calls Tuesday.

One local business leader suggested Schafer could have marketed Ramblers Ranch more effectively. Country fans expressed surprise it was closing and sang its praises, saying there was nothing like it in the area.

"It was an asset, a beautiful place," said Madeline Ligenza of Jim Thorpe. "I was just there in September with several groups of people and everyone agreed what a showplace it was."

John C. Valick of Albrightsville, head cook at the ranch, was busy Tuesday unloading personal items, including a set of chef's knives, from his truck.

"I was told today (to) come in and get my stuff," he said. "It just blows my mind."

He didn't see the closing coming.

"We had a real good thing going," he said. "The restaurant was going well."

Valick worked for Ramblers for about a year, cooking up prime rib and chicken parmesan for as many as 600 customers at a time.

Now he's scrambling to find another job.

"I've got to find something," he said. "I've got a family to support."

Bob Uguccioni, executive director of the Pocono Mountains Vacation Bureau, suggested better marketing could have helped position the business more effectively.

"I was concerned that it didn't seem that a lot of people knew the quality of the entertainment they had," Uguccioni said. "Some of my friends who are big fans of some of the country music greats really never knew they were there. And that's a major issue."

Uguccioni had no forewarning of the closing.

"We had a lot of motor coach business going there," he said. "It's a shock. Hopefully, whatever the issue is, they'll be able to open again. It's a really beautiful facility."

Carbon County Court records show that Ramblers Ranch was sued five times by vendors during its relatively brief existence, with the first and largest civil lawsuit being filed just five months after the business opened.

That action, filed in March 1999, was a $98,570 claim by Lighting Fixture and Supply of Allentown. It and three others filed in 1999 were all settled.

For property tax purposes, Ramblers Ranch was valued at $2.26 million during Carbon County's tax reassessment last year.

The business is expected to pay at least $32,000 in property tax to the Jim Thorpe School District and close to $6,000 to Carbon County this year.

In Penn Forest Township, where the business is, the tax revenue impact will be insignificant because the township has no property tax this year.

Schafer, leader of his family country band, the Blue Mountain Ramblers, and owner of an excavating business, planned the massive post-and-beam building to hold 2,000 fans.

The complex, billed as "A Little Bit of Nashville in Your Back Yard," includes a concert hall, two restaurants and two bars, one shaped like a guitar and the other like a piano.

Two outdoor decks offer a spectacular view of the surrounding valley and Beltzville Lake.

Country legend Ray Price performed at the Ramblers Ranch opening. He was followed by such greats as George Jones, Dwight Yoakam, Lorrie Morgan and Porter Wagoner.

News of the closing prompted dismay among local country music fans.

Charles Getz, a Carbon County commissioner who lives near the ranch, said he used to eat there several times a week, and also would go for the music.

"I used to do a lot of country and western dancing up there," he said. "There's no other place like that around here.

"It was a great place to go, it was close to my house, and it had a great view," said Getz. "There was no smoking inside the building, and I'm a nonsmoker, so it was nice to go home without your clothes smelling like smoke."

Getz, who recalls Shafer's father and his band performing at square dances in the 1950s, said he wishes the Shafer family could have kept the business open.

"Tommy always said it was his dream to have a place like that," Getz said.

Carbon County residents who patronized the business were saddened to hear the news.

"It's a shame. I was there for an Eddie Money concert not too long ago," said Therese Lesko of Jim Thorpe. "I believe that Ramblers Ranch had incredible potential, but I don't think they had a productive-enough plan in place to keep business thriving."

The sudden closing forced at least one show coordinator to think fast.

Chuck Geiger, program director of Allentown radio station WCTO, CAT Country 96, planned to hold a Super Bowl Sunday benefit show at Ramblers Ranch on Jan. 28.

"I came into work on Friday and they tell me I have to get a new venue for the show," he said. "All I know is that we can't do the concert there."

Geiger will hold the show, to benefit Turning Point, at Crocodile Rock in Allentown.

Sally Pope of Lehighton said the Schafers deserved better.

"It's really a shame because the Schafers are such a hard-working family," she said. "It's sad that it didn't take off more than it did."